Chapter 325

The turn of the century will inevitably come again. Just entering 1999, the doomsday speech circulated among the people and the media has even become a trend. Doomsday theory has always had a market in religious societies like the West. The remarks about the coming of the devil and the coming of Satan have been repeatedly thrown out by many famous religious figures, and then they have been hyped up by the gossip media.

Even the sunrise industrial network and computer industry that rescued the United States, there are rumors about the millennium bug outbreak. Computers have penetrated into all walks of life in this country. If there is an outbreak of the millennium bug, American society will inevitably be chaotic.

But for the business and financial circles, these are minor issues that can be ignored in the face of commercial profits.

Especially Hollywood, how it worked before, is still how it works now. As the old year passes and the new year arrives, apart from the busy stars, directors and major companies, focus on Hollywood's "Vanity Fair" and "Entertainment" Newspapers and magazines such as The Weekly and The Hollywood Reporter also summarized Hollywood's past year in the new issue of the new year's special issue.

"Vanity Fair" released Hollywood's annual revenue rankings, "Entertainment Weekly" was the Hollywood power rankings that had been in existence for ten years, and "Hollywood Reporter" was the 1998 annual ￡, North American box office rankings.

In the three lists, Duke was not only shortlisted, but also ranked at the forefront.

In the 1998 North American box office rankings of The Hollywood Reporter, The Matrix ranked first with a North American box office of 327.58 million U.S. dollars without any suspense, and Michael Bay's "The Matrix" ranked second. The US$189 million in Peerless Tribulation is nearly half that.

In addition to the box office, the "Hollywood Reporter" also commented on the film.

"Last summer, we witnessed a breathtaking movie-"The Matrix". We talked about'bullet time','explosion time' and 360-degree volley kicks and other cool actions, we experienced The most revolutionary moment in film history."

"Now. Director Duke Rosenberg and his "The Matrix" have been worshipped by fans all over the world. They appreciate every detail of the film over and over again, analyze the metaphors of each sentence, and begin to discuss 'Existentialism' and'nihilism'; the most influential contemporary philosophers are working hard to explore the philosophical connotation of this film. Books like "The Matrix and Philosophy" are constantly being published; its religious spirit has also gained more and more attention. The richer the explanation, the controversy over people's self-awareness in the future digital world has even become fashionable in the religious world."

Although there are still films released in the Thanksgiving Christmas file in North America that have not yet ended their screenings, no one would expect films such as "Stand Ahead" and "Shakespeare in Love" to get 300 million US dollars in box office in North America, "The Matrix" "There is no doubt about winning the annual box office chart.

In addition to the first place in the annual box office list, Duke also occupied the first place in the annual revenue list.

The annual income list released by Vanity Fair only counts job remuneration from the film industry, and investment and other asset appreciation are not included.

Relying on the director's basic remuneration and box office bonuses for "The Matrix", Duke firmly took the first place with his pre-tax income of $125 million.

Then came James Cameron, as before. Although the truck driver gave up the director's salary, he did not give up the director's share. From the terrible box office and peripheral income of the ship, he received a total of 85 million US dollars in pre-tax income, ranking second on this list.

"Vanity Fair" wrote this-Duke Rosenberg is setting a new benchmark for Hollywood commercial directors' income. His director's remuneration has not only reached the highest level ever in Hollywood, but has also continued to push the highest farther. Insiders disclosed. In the latest "Lord of the Rings Trilogy", Duke Rosenberg's total remuneration as screenwriter, director and producer is as high as $45 million. The capping of the tiered sharing agreement is 25% that Hollywood has never seen before!

On another list, James Cameron reversed Duke.

In "Entertainment Weekly"'s new Hollywood power rankings, with the great success of "Titanic", James Cameron firmly ranked first. This collection of income, fame and influence and other aspects of the list calculation Quite complicated, in second place is Jack Leonardo DiCaprio, who is popular all over the world. The next third place was Tom Cruise, who further consolidated his position with "Mission Impossible". Keanu Reeves ranked fourth with the popularity of "The Matrix" and the super cool power of the savior. Duke is The director of the film ranks fifth.

Since "Titanic" was a movie released in 1997, Duke is the only one who can squeeze into the top five of these three heavyweight lists.

At the same time, various media are publishing lists of all sorts of strange things. People or things related to "The Matrix" have become the winners of many of these lists.

For example, among the 100 sexiest actresses of The Gang of Men, Charlize Theron squeezed into the top three; among the top ten classic movie shots of the New York Times in 1998, 'Blast Time' ranked first...

Even Duke was ranked in the top 50 sexiest men in the world by a gossip magazine.

Because he decided to take a long vacation for himself, from before Christmas to after the New Year, Duke stayed in New York. Except for fitness exercises, he spent most of his time reading books and newspapers, or chatting and drinking tea with Irene Lauder. Went to Philadelphia to explore Sophia Coppola.

The first feature film in her life, "Death of the Virgin," was shot in a middle school near the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

"You look the same as before."

Taking advantage of the break of the crew, Sophia Coppola chatted with Duke for a while, "I was on the phone with Tina some time ago and I heard that your physical and mental state are not good."

"it's better now."

Sitting next to Sophia Coppola, Duke looked at the students who were watching the filming, and then closed his gaze back. "Probably the fatigue accumulated over the years was induced by high-intensity work. Last Christmas before..."

He sighed, "Not only physically and mentally, I feel that there is a problem with my fighting spirit."

"My dear, you are too strict with yourself."

Holding Duke's arm, Sophia said seriously, "You keep urging yourself to move forward, and you refuse to stop and relax a little. In the past few years, even on vacation, your nerves have been tight. Among the directors, even Spielberg, who is generally recognized as the most diligent, is not as desperate as you."

Taking the hot coffee from Sofia's assistant, Duke thanked him, leaning on the back of the chair, and said, "I always have a sense of time urgency. I want to continue to succeed. I have been Understand that there is no fluke in success, you must work hard if you want to succeed."

Sophia rolled his eyes, "You are successful enough now."

"So I temporarily throw away all my work." Duke took a sip of coffee and said, "I took a long vacation for myself."

Then, Duke turned the topic to Sofia's film, "Did the shooting go well?"

"In general it's not bad."

Pointing to the actresses who were applying makeup for Duke, Sophia Coppola said, "I have prepared the script and the filming plan for two years, and you and my father have also given me enough suggestions. Her performance is also very good, especially Kirsten Dunst, she is in very good form, and she deserves to be one of the best actresses since the 1980s."

Listening to Sophia Coppola talking about the actress, Duke suddenly thought that he seemed to ignore someone, "Where's Scarlett? Why didn't I see her."

"I don't have her role today." Sophia Coppola asked the assistant next to her, and said, "She came here this morning and left before lunch. She should have visited the Wharton School next door."

Someone nearby came over and said something to Sofia. She turned to Duke and said, "Look around for yourself, I'm about to start shooting."

Duke was here to visit the class, not to disturb Sofia Coppola's shooting. He consciously stayed away from the shooting location and walked around by himself.

In fact, there is nothing good to see here. Sophia Coppola chose this middle school to shoot a story about Michigan. That is to say, because of the long history and older architecture of the middle school, Duke walked around the library. Somewhat boring, just took out the phone and dialed Scarlett Johansson's number.

After all, she is mother's goddaughter, and since coming to Philadelphia, Duke always wants to see her.

"I'm having coffee with Mary in the coffee shop of the Wharton School of Business. Do you want to come over? Well, I'll wait for you..."

Hearing the name of the cafe reported by Scarlett Johansson, Duke hung up the phone and left the middle school. A driver from the crew sent him to the Wharton School of Business. He walked into the college and asked some students to inquire. I checked the location of the coffee shop, and it took nearly ten minutes to find it.

He pushed the door and walked into the cafe, and immediately saw a blonde girl standing up and beckoning to the front left near the window, and strode over.

"Hello, Director Rosenberg..."

Scarlett Johansson's manager, Mary, quickly stood up and greeted Duke. Duke nodded, pulled the chair away, and sat opposite the blonde girl.

"Did you come to see me specifically, Duke?" Scarlett asked expectantly.

"Ah, yeah." Duke nodded casually. "I'll come to visit you and Sofia Coppola's class."

The space in the cafe was a bit crowded. Duke moved his chair back and said to the waiter who came by, "Thank you for a latte."

This is an unusually tall waitress. She stared at Duke suddenly and asked, "Why are you here?" (To be continued.)